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St. Mary's River Hits Historic Flood Level

Ellen Reinhardt

The St. Marys River near the Florida border is at record high flood levels. The river, which had been averaging 5 foot levels before the storm, rose above 23 feet. Even though Tropical Depression Debby has moved into the Atlantic Ocean, southeast Georgia will see flooding into the weekend.

Rising water led Charleton County officials to issue a mandatory evacuation order for about 30 homes in the St. Marys Bluff neighborhood

Steve Letro with the National Weather Service says as rainwater drains into the river, flooding will continue.

“We expect the river to stay in major flood stage probably right on into Saturday and then maybe starting to sneak down below major flood stage by later on Saturday into Sunday.”

47 roads are closed in Charleton County due to flooding.

In neighboring Camden County, officials are also monitoring the river closely. They expect their worst conditions this weekend as the floodwaters move toward the coast.

The National Weather Service also issued a coastal flood advisory as far north as Brunswick.

“We’ve been looking at tide levels close to two feet above normal along the coast. That’s not quite high enough at this time of the year to create any huge problems. But we certainly do tend to see some minor flooding along the coastline. We tend to see some beach erosion. When the water’s that high it makes it harder for the rivers to drain out as well, so they drain a little bit more slowly.”

Letro says there are also risks of rip currents. He’s advising everyone to stay out of the water along the coast this weekend.